Some News for Mon Mar 14, 2011

STARTERS

Looney antics are set to return to England this week as Arsenal will sign retired former keeper Jens Lehman to an emergency contract! YES! Just type his name into You Tube and enjoy the show.

UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE

2nd Leg Quarterfinals Tuesday & Wednesday!

dN

NOTE: Games start 1 hour later than usual as North America changes their clocks to standard hours two weeks before Europe does.

-Tue Mar 15
Man United v Marseille (0-0) - Live at 2:30pm CT
Bayern v Inter (1-0) - Delayed at 5:00pm CT
-Wed Mar 16
Chelsea v Kobenhavn (2-0) - Live at 2:30pm CT
Real Madrid v Lyon (1-1) - Delayed at 5:00pm CT

dN

Tottenham, Schalke, Barcelona and Shakhtar have already advanced to the next round.

CONCACAF CHAMPIONS LEAGUE

1st Leg Semifinals Tuesday & Wednesday!

dN

James Edward of the Deseret News previews RSL against Saprissa.
-And some more notes.

Michael C Lewis of the Salt Lake Tribune previews RSL's huge game on Tuesday against the Purple Monster.

dN

Semifinals
1st Leg
-Tue Mar 15
Real Salt Lake v Saprissa - 9pm CT
-Wed Mar 16
Cruz Azul v Monterrey
2nd Leg
-Tue Apr 5
Saprissa v Real Salt Lake
-Wed Apr 6
Monterrey v Cruz Azul

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“I think for him to take that next step to where he hopes he can go - whether it’s a starting position for the national team, whether it’s an opportunity for him to go to Europe - I think he’s a better center back than he is a left-sided player.”

-Schellas Hyndman, head coach FC Dallas on player Brek Shea

BIG EUROPEAN CLUB MATCHES

-Fri Mar 11
Rennes 0-2 Marseille - #2 lost to #4 in France (although the standings did not change because of this result)
-Sat Mar 12
Manchester United 2-0 Arsenal - Arsenal is falling straight off a cliff right now, and Man U just makes it happen!
Bayern 6-0 Hamburg - a massive ass-kicking in a big big rivalry feels even better to win, and much worse to lose.
-Sun Mar 13
Roma 2-0 Lazio - the always nutso Roman derby goes to the team that needed it more.
Mainz 0-1 Leverkusen - the loser drops to #5 and the winner stays at #2 in Germany.

MLS FIRST KICK 2011

Now just 1 day away!

-Tue Mar 15
Seattle Sounders FC v LA Galaxy - 8:30pm CT on ESPN
Venue: Qwest Field - Seattle WA

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Joshua Mayers of the Seattle Times previews the start of 2011 for the Sounders.

Mayers also reports that the Galaxy is one team who has never been intimidated by the huge Sounders crowd.

Seattle head coach Sigi Schmid's Monday press conference. Via the Seattle Times.

The Associated Press previews the game. Via the Seattle Post Intelligencer.

The LA Times previews the Galaxy season.

MLS/USA & RELATED RUMORS

Today's ridiculous name in the hopper: Michael Ballack. Yeeeeeeah!

MLS TEAM & PLAYER NEWS

CD CHIVAS USA

CUSA lost 2-0 to Dallas on Saturday.

FC DALLAS

FCD beat Chivas USA in their final preseason game on Saturday 2-0 on goals by Daniel Hernandez & Ruben Luna.

DC UNITED

Ajax of Amsterdam will be the opponent for a DCU friendly on Sun May 22 at RFK Stadium. Nice.

HOUSTON DYNAMO

Jose de Jesus Ortiz of the Chronicle says another injury to captain Brian Ching will probably push rookie Will Bruin on to the field earlier than expected.

Ortiz also writes about veteran forward Jason Garey who joined Houston in the off season from Columbus.

SPORTING KANSAS CITY SC

KC signed 32 year old Brazilian centerback Julio Cesar. He was with Maritimo in Portugal last fall, but did not play any games. Before that he did see the field for a full season with Gaziantepspor in Turkey.

NEW YORK RED BULLS

Michael Lewis of Big Apple Soccer has 7 questions that he thinks the Bulls must address to be successful.

PORTLAND TIMBERS

Portland has sold the naming rights to their stadium to local door and window maker JELD-WEN (all caps and hyphen.) So welcome to JELD-WEN Field.
-JELD-WEN is an acronym for the names of the original owners immediate family members names.

Portland went to San Jose on Saturday and got a 1-1 tie on a goal by Eric Brunner.

REAL SALT LAKE

RSL signed their first ever academy player - 19 year old forward Donny Toia.

SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES

The Quakes tied the Timbers at Buck Shaw on Saturday in their final preseason match. Chris Wondolowski scored on a penalty kick for SJE.

SEATTLE SOUNDERS

The Sounders signed a second loan deal for 19 year old Colombian forward Miguel Montano.

MLS EXHIBITIONS

CAROLINA CHALLENGE CUP
Venue: Blackbaud Stadium - Charleston SC

DC United is the 2011 winner.

Matches & Scores:
-Sat Mar 5
Charleston Battery 1-2 DC United - CB goal by Stephen Armstrong(PK). DCU goals by Chris Pontius & Joseph Ngwenya.
Toronto FC 0-1 Chicago Fire - CF goal by Marco Pappa.
-Wed Mar 9
Charleston Battery 2-1 Toronto FC - CB goals by Dane Kelly & Mike Zaher. TFC goal by Nathan Sturgis(PK).
DC United 1-0 Chicago Fire - DCU goal by Blake Brettschneider.
-Sat Mar 12
Charleston Battery 0-0 Chicago Fire
DC United 2-2 Toronto FC - DCU goals by Charlie Davies & Joseph Ngwenya. TFC goals by Dwayne De Rosario(PK) & Maicon Santos.

Standings:
7 DC (+2 gd)
4 Charleston (0 gd)
4 Chicago (0 gd)
1 Toronto (-2 gd)

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ATLANTA PRO SOCCER CHALLENGE
Venue: KSU Soccer Stadium - Kennesaw GA

Columbus is the 2011 winner.

Matches & Scores:
-Wed Mar 9
New England Revolution 1-3 Columbus Crew - NER goal by Ilija Stolica. CC goals by Tommy Heinemann(2) & Bernardo Anor.
-Fri Mar 11
Columbus Crew 1-0 Houston Dynamo - CC goal by Andre Mendoza.
-Sun Mar 13
Houston Dynamo 3-1 New England Revolution - HD goals by Will Bruin(2) & Alex Dixon. NER goal by Zack Schilawski.

Standings:
6 Columbus Crew
3 Houston Dynamo
0 New England Revolution

TEAM USA

50,000 tickets have been sold for the USA v Argentina game on Sat Mar 26 at the New Meadlowlands Stadium in East Rutherford NJ>

dN

Here is the Argentina roster for that game.
G:
Mariano Andujar - Catania
Adrian Gabbarini - Independiente
Sergio Romero - AZ Alkmaar
D:
Nicolas Burdisso - Roma
Federico Fazio - Sevilla
Ezequiel Garay - Real Madrid
Gabriel Milito - Barcelona
Nicolas Otamendi - Porto
Marcos Rojo - Spartak Moscow
Pablo Zabaleta - Manchester City
Javier Zanetti - Inter Milan
M:
Ever Banega - Valencia
Fernando Belluschi - Porto
Lucas Biglia - Anderlecht
Mario Bolatti - Internacional
Esteban Cambiasso - Inter Milan
Javier Mascherano - Barcelona
Javier Pastore - Palermo
F:
Ezequiel Lavezzi - Napoli
Angel Di Maria - Real Madrid
Nicolas Gaitan - Benfica
Lionel Messi - Barcelona
Eduardo Salvio - Benfica
Jose Sosa - Napoli

AMERICANS IN EUROPE

Mike Grella bagged his first goal for Swindon.

dN

Clarence Goodson suffered a broken toe, so he will not be taking the field for a while.

dN

Game Action:

BELGIUM - Pro League
Sacha Kljestan - Anderlecht - went the full 90 as they drew 1-1 at Eupen.

BULGARIA - A PFG
Jemal Johnson - Lokomotiv Sofia - went the distance as they won 0-1 at Kaliakra.

DENMARK - Superliga -
Clarence Goodson - Brondy - not on the game day roster as they won 2-0 v Sonderjyske.
Michael Parkhurst - Nordsjaelland - on the bench as they drew 2-2 at Midtjylland.
Chris Rolfe - AaB - on the bench as they lost 0-1 at Kobenhavn.

ENGLAND - FA Cup - Quarterfinals
Stuart Holden - Bolton - Sat Mar 12 - went the full 90 as they won 2-3 at Birmingham.
Jonathan Spector - West Ham - Sun Mar 13 - came on as a sub in the 35th min but they lost 2-1 at Stoke.

ENGLAND - Championship League
Conor Doyle - Derby County - came on as a sub in the 50th min and they won 2-1 v Swansea.
Brad Guzan - Hull City - went the full 90 as they won 0-1 at Coventry.
Eric Lichaj - Leeds - played the entire game as they drew 0-0 v Ipswich.
Zak Whitbread - Norwich - went the full 90 as they won 3-1 v Bristol City.

ENGLAND - League One
Mike Grella - Swindon Town - started and went 79 min scoring a goal and getting a yellow card as they drew 1-1 v Dagenham & Redbridge.
Anton Peterlin - Plymouth Argyle - went the full 90 but lost 2-0 at Hartlepool.
Frank Simek - Carlisle United - played the full miserable 90 min as they were creamed 6-0 at Peterborough.

FRANCE - Ligue 1
Carlos Bocanegra - Saint Etienne - went the distance and won 2-0 v Brest.

GERMANY - Bundesliga
Timothy Chandler - Nurnberg - went the distance getting a yellow card winning 1-2 at Wolfsburg.
Steve Cherundolo - Hannover - went the full 90 getting a yellow card and losing 4-0 at Koln.
Ricardo Clark - Eintracht Frankfurt - started and played the first half but they lost 2-1 at Schalke.

GERMANY - 2 Bundesliga
Edson Buddle - Ingolstadt - came on as a sub in the 72nd min as they won 1-2 at FSV Frankfurt.
Luis Robles - Karlsruher - on the bench as they won 3-1 v Duisburg.
Bobby Wood - 1860 Munich - on the bench as they won 0-3 at Arminia Bielefeld.
David Yelldell - Duisburg - in the lineup but lost 3-1 at Karlsruher.

NETHERLANDS - Eredivisie
Oguchi Onyewu - Twente - played the entire match as they won 2-1 v VVV Venlo.

NETHERLANDS - Eerste Divisie
Charles Kazlauskas - Helmond Sport - came on as a sub in the 72nd min of a scoreless draw v Go Ahead Eagles.

RUSSIA - Premier Division
Yevgeni Starikov - Zenit - came on as a sub in the 59th min but they lost 2-0 at Volga.

SCOTLAND - Premier League
Mo Edu - Rangers - went the full 90 as they won 2-1 v Kilmarnock.

TURKEY - Super Lig
Jozy Altidore - Bursaspor - started and went 71 min as they drew 1-1 at Karabukspor.

TURKEY - 1. Lig
Freddie Adu - Caykur Rizespor - started and went 68 min in a scoreless draw at Giresunspor.

dN

Coming Up:

ENGLAND - Championship League
Eddie Johnson - Preston North End - Tue Mar 15 at Scunthorpe

AMERICANS IN MEXICO

Game Action:

PRIMERA DIVISION
Jonathan Bornstein - Tigres UANL - on the bench as they drew 1-1 v San Luis.
Herculez Gomez - Pachuca - came on as a sub in the 58th min but lost 0-4 v Atlante.
Sonny Guadarrama - Atlante - on the bench as they won 0-4 at Pachuca.
Jose Torres - Pachuca - played the full game getting a yellow card but they lost 0-4 v Atlante.

LIGA DE ASCENSO (2nd division)
Joe Benny Corona - Tijuana - started and went 59 min getting a yellow card as they won 1-2 at Cruz Azul Hidalgo.
Marco Vidal - Leon - came on after half time but they lost 2-0 at Durango.

MEXICO

Recap du Nord: After 10 rounds (of 17) Pumas has stormed out to a big lead with 24 points. Tigres is in 2nd with 19, and Morelia and Cruz Azul are tied at 18. These 4 are considerably better than everyone else. Down at the bottom we have some real dire looking teams in Chiapas in last place with 8 (although they are in Copa Libertadores), Pachuca with 9 and Santos Laguna & Puebla each with 10.

The top 2 teams from each of the 3 groups, plus the next best two, makes the playoffs. Here are those top 8 as of Sun Mar 13:
G1
19 UANL Tigres
16 Monterrey
G2
16 America (11 games played)
15 Toluca
G3
24 UNAM Pumas
18 Morelia
Next 2
18 Cruz Azul
15 San Luis

ENGLAND

FA Cup
Quarterfinals
-Sat Mar 12
Birmingham 2-3 Bolton
Manchester United 2-0 Arsenal
-Sun Mar 13
Manchester City 1-0 Reading
Stoke 2-1 West Ham

Semifinals
-Sat Apr 16
Manchester City v Manchester United
Bolton v Stoke

SPAIN

Recap du Nord: Barca gagged and drew letting Madrid win and get within points again. #3 Valencia lost badly, #4 Villarreal drew and former #5 Bilbao drew too bumping them down a spot and letting winning Espanyol back into 4th place.

Lionel Messi got cracked on the knee and may miss next weekend. Then again he may not. But its a headline, so...

Sid Lowe of the Guardian on Barca dropping 2 points, but does it make any difference, and the rest of the round in La Liga.

Top of the Primera Division Table: (28 GP)
75 Barcelona - Sun Mar 13 D 1-1 at Sevilla
70 Real Madrid - Sat Mar 12 W 2-0 v Hercles
54 Valencia - Sat Mar 12 L 4-0 at Real Zaragoza
51 Villarreal - Sun Mar 13 D 1-1 v Sporting Gijon
*43 Espanyol - Sun Mar 13 W 2-0 v Deportivo La Coruna
*42 Athletic Bilbao - Mon Mar 14 D 2-2 at Getafe

FRANCE

Recap du Nord: #1 ille got an important win as 2nd place Rennes lost creating a 3 point gap. Lyon and Marseille both won moving closer in 3rd and 4th. PSG only got a draw but stayed #5.

Top of the Ligue 1 Table: (27 GP)
52 Lille - Sun Mar 13 W 2-1 v Valenciennes
49 Rennes - Fri Mar 11 L 0-2 v Marseille
48 Lyon - Sat Mar 12 W 0-2 at Sochaux
48 Marsielle - Fri Mar 11 W 0-2 at Rennes
45 PSG - Sun Mar 13 D 2-2 v Montpellier

GERMANY

Recap du Nord: Dortmund is so far ahead that another loss makes to difference to their 1st place standing. #2 Leverkusen won. But #3 Hannover followed up a big win over Bayern last week but getting drilled 4-0 at Koln. Then Bayern walloped someone 6-0 to move from 5th to 4th, while a loss for Mainz saw they switch places.

Raphael Honigstein of the Guardian asks us to guess who the most whacked team in the Bundesliga is - Bayern, Hamburg, Schalke or Wolfsburg, plus the rest of the matches over the weekend.

Top of the Bundesliga Table: (26 GP)
61 Borussia Dortmund - Sat Mar 12 L 1-0 at Hoffenheim
52 Bayer Leverkusen - Sun Mar 13 W 0-1 at Mainz
47 Hannover - Fri Mar 11 L 4-0 at Koln
45 Bayern Munich - Sat Mar 12 W 6-0 v Hamburg
43 Mainz - Sun Mar 13 L 0-1 v Leverkusen

And in other Bundesliga news our beloved St Pauli lost for the 4th consecutive match and dropped into the relegation zone for the first time this season. They are in 16th place with 8 games to play.

ITALY

Recap du Nord: #1 & #2 Milan and Inter kept the race in tact by both drawing. #3 Napoli won to remain right in the thick of it, while #4 Lazio lost and dropped to 5th, giving Udinese the chance to win and move up to 4th which they did.

Paolo Bandini of the Guardian on the Roman derby and the rest of the weekend in Serie A.

Top of the Serie A Table: (29 GP)
62 Milan - Sun Mar 13 D 1-1 v Bari
57 Inter - Fri Mar 11 D 1-1 at Brescia
56 Napoli - Sun Mar 13 W 1-3 at Parma
53 Udinese - Sun Mar 13 W 0-4 at Cagliari
51 Lazio - Sun Mar 13 L 0-2 at Roma

COPA LIBERTADORES

Group Stage
Matches & Scores:
-Tue Mar 15
Leon de Huanuco v Gremio
Argentinos Juniors v Nacional
Univ San Martin v Libertad
Once Caldas v San Luis

ENDERS

I saw this headline today at Yahoo Sports: "Fan perspective: Why pro soccer thrives in Kansas City, but not St. Louis"

Um, cuz one has a MLS team and the other does not. (To complicate the matter though, I would say that despite all the off season excitement this year I would not exactly call what they have done in Kansas City thriving.) End of story.